The Dragon's Jewel
by Sassy Little Ms. Muffet
Summary: Haley Foster was Cole Brookestone's best friend as a child. Now that he's a ninja, has he forgotten about her? If you said yes, prepared to be proven wrong! When visiting his father to try and retrieve the second fangblade, Cole reunites with her and realizes how much has really changed since he's been gone!
1. Chapter 1

(I know, I know, this is the millionth time I've redone this, but I PROMISE this is the last time! I got some new ideas and they're WAAAAY better!)

Pythor and the Serpentine travel to an ancient temple in search of the second fang blade. Lloyd frowns to himself as he looks at the chains he's been wrapped in. Two Serpentine guards push him in whatever direction the Serpentine head.

Once deep into the temple, Pythor halts to a stop.

"Why mussst we ssstop when the first fang blade is jussst ahead of usss?" Scales, the second in command general, asks in confusion.

Pythor takes his staff, lifts it in the air, and hits the bottom of it onto the ground. The flooring in front of them collapses about 12 feet into the room.

"What good is awakening the Great Devourer with the four fang blades if we're not around to see it? Get the boy!" Pythor orders.

"Bring the boy!" Scales repeats to the tribes.

The two guards that were watching over Lloyd, bring him to Pythor. The guards release him from his chains.

"You're letting me go?" Lloyd asks happily.

"Just to fetch my dear boy." He pushes Lloyd forward, "Do step lightly!"

Lloyd steps along some flooring that hasn't collapsed. When he reaches a gap between the flooring, he tenderly jumps, but when he lands, the flooring breaks. Luckily, Lloyd's able to grab ahold of the floor before he falls. He lifts himself up and looks back to the Serpentine.

"Bring me the fang blade, and I'll let you go." Pythor tells him.

Lloyd walks and some more flooring begins to collapse. He begins running and the flooring begins to collapse from behind him. He leaps and lands on safe, steady ground. The ceiling, that's covered in spikes, begins closing down on him. He quickly crawls until the ceiling stops barely an inch above him. He crawls out from under the spikes and stands up. He walks only a couple of feet before accidentally stepping onto a button. Arrows shoot from the walls! Lloyd quickly runs across the room. He's able to make it across without a scratch, unbelievably. He then walks right into a stick and the ceiling begins to collapse. He runs and runs until the rocks push him into the room where the fang blade is supposed to be. He walks up the steps and looks at the platform where a light glows onto the center of it. There's no fang blade.

"It's gone!" Lloyd yells from in the room.

"It's gone?" Pythor asks in frustration.

"Where isss it?" Scales asks.

"Do I still get to be free?" Lloyd yells.

"No!" Pythor yells back angrily, and Lloyd pouts.

Meanwhile, Nya and the four ninja are at the Bounty thinking the same exact thing. They're all grouped around a holographic image of a fang blade, thinking.

"Though the Serpentine have the first fang blade, there are still three more and we only need one to stop Pythor. They have a map and we don't, so, the question remains: how are we gonna find 'em first?" Nya asks, with her arms folded.

Jay then randomly says, "I still can't get over the fact that you were the mysterious Samurai!" He sighs happily, "Is anyone else blown away like I am?"

"We're over that! Can we move on?" Kai says, wanting to get off of the subject.

"Whoop boop boop whoo! Someone's a little hot under the collar!" Jay smirks.

"It appears his impatience is because he has not found inner peace and unlocked his true potential like you and I have, Jay." Zane says with a small smile. Kai glares at him in irritation.

"Great observation, Mr. Roboto! Cole hasn't found it, either!" Kai says.

Cole, who was lost in thought finally says, "I've got it!"

"You've unlocked it? Oh, why am I the only one?" Kai yells.

"No, I recognize where I recognize the fang blade from. I have a picture of it!" Cole runs out of the room.

"Oh, is that it? Heh…" Kai says sheepishly.

"I got it!" Cole comes back in with a photo album and places it on the table in the center of the room. He opens up the book to reveal the picture of the fangblade put together as a trophy.

Jay grabs the album and looks at the photo, "Ooh! That's it!"

"Back where I grew up, there was this pretty big competition where the winner won the Bladecup. My father's won multiple times." Cole explains.

"You never told us your father was an accomplished athlete. What sport?" Zane asks.

"Oh. Uh, he's a blacksmith…" Cole says softly, his smile turning into a small frown.

Kai smiles, "Nothing wrong with that. My father was a blacksmith, too, but I don't remember there being a competition-"

"That's because he's not a blacksmith blacksmith. He's a Royal Blacksmith." Cole gets up to turn the page of the album. On the next page is a picture of Cole's father, Lou, smiling while holding the Bladecup. The boys snicker for a moment and then get serious again.

"But how did the fangblade become a trophy?" Kai asks.

"Well supposedly, the fangblade was made by some guy that collected priceless artifacts. His name was something like Dutch, no Clutch! Clutch Powers!" Cole says, "Anyways, it gets passed on to each year's winner."

"Who has it now?" asks Zane.

"I don't know. I haven't talked to my father in years!" Cole frowns, his head slumping down.

"Well then we'll call him up!" Kai holds out a phone.

"You can't! He thinks I'm in Ninjago City training at the Marty Oppenhimer School of Performing Arts." He sighs and walks over to the steering wheel, steering it a bit, "He wanted me to follow in his footsteps. When I couldn't sing or dance I-I ran away. When he sees that I can't sing or dance, he'll know I've been lying in all of the letters I've been sending him."

"He doesn't know you're a ninja?" Zane asks, quite shocked.

"What, you gonna crack some joke that my ol' man wears a tutu?" Cole spats.

"No, but if we're gonna have any chance of getting the fangblade before they do, "Kai says, placing a hand on Cole's shoulder, "We better get our own act in tune!"


	2. Chapter 2

Two brothers begin making their way up a dark mountain. One, by the name of Lord Garmadon, is the leader of this journey. His evil appearance was created by being bitten by an evil snake known as the Great Devourer when he was only a child. Because of that bite, he now has glowing red eyes, a completely black complexion, razor sharp teeth and four arms. He wears a metal helmet with a bone held on the front to hide his crazy black hair. He wears a plate of armor for his outfit that's held tightly across his waist by a midnight blue belt.

The younger brother, by the name of Sensei W, is a very old man with a long white beard and mustache. He covers his bald head with a straw sugegasa. He always wears what looks like a white karate uniform held by a black belt across the waist.

Garmadon climbs up to a platform on a high part of the mountain. He watches his younger, yet very old, brother climb up. Just as Sensei Wu reaches the platform, he slips and nearly falls. Garmadon grabs him and pulls him up to safety.

"I was hoping we'd reach the summit before the moon had risen, "Garmadon says, looking to the red moon in the horizon, "The Craglings never miss a midnight snack."

"Craglings? What is this place? There is no such thing in Ninjago." Sensei Wu tells his older brother.

"They are a hoard unlike any you've seen." Garmadon explains, "Not places exist to be found, brother. Sometimes, one must revel in the shadows to truly see the light." Suddenly, the ground shakes and they see all of the loose rocks and pebbles coming together to form a giant, rock creature. These are what Garmadon called a Cragling. Multiple Craglings form and they begin closing in on the two elderly brothers. Garmadon pulls out four swords, one in each hand. He jumps, slamming the blades to the ground sending a blast of energy towards the creatures. The Craglings are thrown into the air, and soon land back down to the ground. Sensei Wu takes out a silver Kusari Fundo with an arrow on the end. As the two brothers run through the swarm of Craglings, they use their weapons to destroy any of the monsters that come too close.

They run pretty far, but Sensei Wu us grabbed by one of the Craglings and slammed to the ground.

"Watch out, brother!" Lord Garmadon comes running back and destroys the Cragling. He helps his brother up.

"Thanks." Wu says to his brother. All of a sudden, they're surrounded by Craglings.

"Just like old times?" Wu asks as he prepares for battle.

"Just like old times." Garmadon agrees, getting his blades ready. The two both yell, "Ninjago!" and go into battle with the demonic creatures.

The ninja arrive to Cole's home city. The Bounty halts to a stop right above the village and they boys take out their golden weapons. They jump off of the ship and ride their weapons to the ground. Once they land, they turn their vehicles back into their weapons.

Cole opens a long case in which the weapons will be held in, "Alright, hand 'em over!"

"Uh-uh, but no mortal shall possess all four!" Jay teases as he places his golden nunchuks into the case.

"Very funny." Cole glares at him, while speaking in a sarcastic manner. The rest of the ninja place their golden weapons inside of the case.

"Wanna remind me why we can't keep our weapons?" Kai asks.

"I told you! My dad can't find out I'm a ninja, and I don't feel like making up excuses why I'm carrying a giant scythe around with me." Cole explains as he walks to the door of his father's house, "Just remember the plan. We find out who has the fangblade trophy, snatch it, and then get the heck out of town!" Cole turns to the front door and knocks.

"Just a moment!" the ninja hear Cole's father say from behind the door. Lou opens the door and has a bit of a shocked expression when he sees Cole at the front door.

"H-hey, dad! How long has it been?" Cole asks with a cheery smile on his face.

"What? You too good for the doorbell?" Lou spats and slams the door shut. Cole stands there dumbfounded.

"Use the bell, son." Lou tells him from behind the door. Cole walks up to the door bell and presses the button. The bell's sound his Lou's quartet singing, "Welcome!"

Lou opens the door once more and smiles, pulling his son in for a hug, "Heh-heh! Come on in, son. It's been forever!" Lou looks up to see the other three boys, "What did you bring, a quartet? Come in, come in! I have a kettle of lemon-honey tea on the stove, right now!" The boys all walk into the house and Lou closes the door behind them.

Lou starts a conversation once everyone's sitting on the couch with a cup of tea in their hands, "Did my son tell you I broke my foot? I was doing the cha-cha, but I swear the percussionist had it in for me!"

"No dad, I didn't tell them any of your silly stories." Cole says.

"Silly stories?" Lou asks, shocked that his son would think of it as silly.

"Uh, what he meant was that we've been so busy training at the, the, uh…" Kai says quickly, but forgets the name of the performing arts school.

"Uh the Martha Oppenhimer, yeah…" Jay realizes that that wasn't the right name.

"Martha Oppenhimer?" Lou asks confusedly with a raised brow.

"What he's trying to say is the Marty Oppenhimer School of Performing Arts." Zane corrects.

"Yeah, um you see we have this final research paper on the history of Ninjago talent, and what we really wanted to know is how we can get our hands on the Bladecup." Cole explains.

Lou takes a sip of his tea and speaks, "You're talking about getting your hands on The Bladecup." Lou points to the picture of the trophy with his cane, "The most treasured and heavily guarded award in all of Ninjago. The symbol of excellence and style and grace. You can't just get it. You must exhibit style, perfect pitch, push the boundaries of performing license, and win this year's Ninjago Talent show!"

"Perhaps there's an easier way." Zane says, unsure that this is the right way to get the trophy.

"Is this why you came?" Lou asks as he sets his cup down, "You knew I was injured, and when my quartet insisted we shan't go on, you four decide to take our place! Ingenious! My son, bringing forth the next evolution of the Royal Blacksmiths!" The ninja look at each other, realizing that this visit isn't turning out like they'd hoped.

"Let me hear the sound of sweet, sweet harmony." Lou leans forward a bit to hear them. Jay stands up singing, then Zane, and then Kai. All are off key. Cole shakes his head thinking, "They've blown it!"

Lou shuts his eyes tightly, not happy with the sound they've created. He looks at the boys after they stops singing.

"Uh, look, dad. We just need the trophy." Cole says as he sets his cup down and walks over to his father.

"Yeah! We're bringing home the gold and we want you to train us!" Kai cuts Cole off.

Lou nearly cries tears of joy, "I've never been more proud." He walks over to the door leading into the next room, "If you'll excuse me, I must go right a song about my feelings." He leaves the room, the ninja now by themselves.

"What are you doing?" Cole asks his ninja friends angrily.

Kai looks at Cole and answers, "Look, we enter this competition to get close enough to the Bladecup. Once we get the fangblade, we leave town. How hard can this be?"


	3. Chapter 3

People run away in terror as two Serpentine, one a Hypnobrai and the other a Constrictai, walk through the streets of Ninjago. One notices a flyer hanging on a telephone pole and tears it down, "Hey, look!" "Ooh, a sssinging competition? I like sssinging!" the other claps happily. "No, you idiot, it'sss the Fangblade!" the Serpentine holding the flyer whacks the oblivious serpent in the back of the head. The poster the snake holds is an ad for the Ninjago Talent Show. "That'sss what Pythor's looking for!" the Constrictai tells his mate. "We must tell the others!" the Hypnobrai says. ~ The four boys are with Cole's father in the dancing room of the house. "Now, from the top!" Lou plays a couple notes on the piano to get the boys started. They boys are in order with Cole first, Zane enxt, Jay after that, and Kai being last. Kai starts and they go all of the way up the row of boys. "Bop 'till ya drop!" "Shake it 'till ya break!" "Move it 'till ya lose it!" "Spin it 'till ya win it!" "Stop! Stop! If my ears weren't attached to my head they'd be running away!" Lou's father scoffs as he walks over to the boys, "Kai! Love the energy, hate the hair. Jay, you're giving a lot, but I need more! Zane! Like a machine, don't change anything. And Cole, try to act like you wanna be here!" "He's worse than Sensei Wu!" Jay whispers to Kai. "Okay, moving forward! Let's take a look at the big show-stopping climax! Cole, we can't have history repeating itself," Lou says, pointing his wooden cane at Cole. "Dad, it was the Triple Tiger Sashay. I was seven!" Cole says irritably. "What's the Triple Tiger Sashay?" Kai asks. "Only the most difficult dance move ever created," Cole replies. "It's true. Many of professionals have dare-tried, but none of successfully completed it," Lou says, agreeing with his son. "Hence, my father thought a seven year old could," Cole scoffs, "but I ended up falling on my face, humiliating myself, and letting my quartet down!" "If you're going to win, you must go big! All right, time for a break take fi-" Lou's interrupted by the sound of a motorcycle pulling up to the house. The front door of the house opens and then closes. Not even a second passes when someone opens the door to the practice room and steps in. The figure is wearing a black biker suit with a black biker helmet. Both the helmet and outfit has purple flames on the sides. Lou sighs and places his hand on his forehead in disapproval, "How many times do I have to tell you, No helmets in the house? It's rude! Especially when we have guests!" "Sorry, Lou," a muffled voice says from behind the helmet. The figure takes off the helmet to reveal the face of a girl. The girl has fair skin and black hair placed into a high ponytail that goes all of the down to wear her shoulder blades are. A long bang of black hair hangs from the left side of her face while a bang on the right side of her face covers her right eye. Her eyes are violet, but seem to have a hint of redness to them if one is to stare at them for a moment. Her figure is made noticeable through the skin-tight suit she's wearing. Cole stares at the girl that has just appeared. His heart skips a beat and he feels his face heat up a bit. Kai nudges him in the arm and snickers. Cole sends a cold glare at his friend. "Anyways, Haley, do you remember my son, Cole? And these are the friends in his quartet: Jay, Kai, and Zane," Lou says to the girl. Cole's heart stops for half a second and it's as if the world stops. The girl he has been best friends with since he was a little boy, is right here in the flesh. He's amazed with how much she's changed since when they were younger. Haley was only five years old and Cole was only six years old. Haley had dark brown hair that was put into two adorable pigtails. She had freckle son her cheeks and the widest violet eyes. Other than her eyes, Haley looks totally different now. Haley smiles and looks at Cole, "It's been a while, non?" "It has," Cole smiles and walks over to her. The two friends hug and then pull away. "I can't believe how much you've changed!" Cole says to girl. "Yeah, I've gone a bit darker, but hey. It suits me doesn't it?" Haley teases, "And look at you! You've completely grown up!" Kai and Jay grow bored of their ninja buddy and this girl talking and catching up. Zane doesn't mind because he's not too sure about what's happening. "I'm gonna go put my things away. I'll be back," Haley says. "And while you're doing that, I'll make some snacks!" Lou smiles. "I'll come back down and help you," Haley replies. She hurries upstairs before Lou can protest. Lou then sighs, rolls his eyes, and walks to the kitchen. "I'm not sure what that was all about, but something tells me that Cole has been pretty closed up about his life," Jay says. "Jay, shut up, dude," Cole scoffs. "Not my fault you can't deliver the goods!" Jay teases. "Just shut up and don't say anything to them, understand?" Cole spats at the boys. They all nod and go back to practicing as they wait for Lou and Haley to return. 


End file.
